Pat Foley will call a hockey game early in 2023

CHICAGO – After completing his decades-long career in the Blackhawks’ broadcast booth, Pat Foley will be making his return to calling hockey early in 2023.

Unlike before, this will be a limited engagement.

Sports USA, a syndicator of NFL and NHL radio broadcasts, announced the Foley will handle the national radio play-by-play duties for the 2023 Winter Classic between the Bruins and the Penguins at Fenway Park in Boston on Monday, January 2.

It will be his first hockey broadcast since he called his last game as the Blackhawks’ television play-by-play announcer on April 14 against the Sharks at the United Center. Foley did get the chance to call a Cubs-Cardinals game on television on Marquee Sports Network and on the radio with WSCR-AM on August 23 at Wrigley Field.

Now Foley gets the shot to call hockey again and will do so with former Blackhawks and current Seattle Kraken analyst Nick Olczyk. He’s the son of Foley’s longtime partner Eddie Olczyk, who also left the Blackhawks at the conclusion of the 2021-2022 season.

“The opportunity to join Sports USA and debut at a marquee event in a spectacular setting is very exciting,” said Foley in a news release from Sports USA. “I’m looking forward to sitting next to Nick Olzcyk, who is a terrific analyst. I cut my teeth in radio and keeping up with the fastest game in the world is always a challenge, but one that I’m very much looking forward to.”

A native of Glenview, Foley announced Blackhawks’ games from 1980 through 2006 then returned to the franchise in 2008, primarily served as a television announcer, including some games on WGN-TV.

His unique sayings and enthusiasm over the course of 39 years with the team made him a fan favorite while also earning him election to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.

Foley was also a five-time Emmy Award winner in his hockey broadcasting career, which has at least one more game in 2023.